The UMCOR Hotline:

International Disaster Risk Reduction Day, October 13, is a day set aside to raise public awareness about how to reduce communities’ disaster risk. The ultimate aim is to prevent and minimize loss and damage from future calamities around the world.

UMCOR, the United Methodist Committee on Relief, places great emphasis on the need for disaster risk reduction (DRR) as part of its continuing effort to help all whose lives and livelihoods are threatened by disasters.

One example is UMCOR’s newly instituted support for a program in Timor-Leste. Aimed at the remote and somewhat isolated community of Oecusse, the program aims to help vulnerable communities respond better to the ill effects of climate change and to increase food security.

Working with the Oklahoma-based NGO World Neighbors, UMCOR hopes the Timorese of Oecusse will steadily improve their preparedness for weather-related disasters and increase their community organizations’ capacity for risk reduction, preparedness, and mitigation. Read more.

This week is Mental Illness Awareness Week. Pray for your loved ones and those in your church and wider community who struggle with mental illness. Pray that we may all challenge ourselves and our congregations to be more open about the ways in which mental illnesses have touched our lives. Read more.

Be in the know while you’re on the go. The new UMCOR App is available free for your iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. With the UMCOR App, you can see the latest news, Hotline, blogs, Facebook posts, Tweets, and even give to UMCOR projects. Use the QR codes on the right to download the UMCOR App today.

Use this bulletin insert to promote the new fair-trade coffee from UMCOR partner Equal Exhange: Hope’s Blend. This blend of Latin American coffees was specially created to celebrate UMCOR and Equal Exchange’s 10-year partnership.

UMCOR provides emergency relief in many areas of the world. To find out more about UMCOR's ministries, please visit umcor.org. You can donate to any project by placing a contribution in the offering plate at a local United Methodist church; by sending a check to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068; or by calling 1-800-554-8583, where credit card donations are accepted. You can also give online by clicking any of the "DONATE" links or make a $10 donation anytime by texting “UMCOR” to 80888. UMCOR is exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States and qualifies for the maximum charitable contribution deduction by donors.

And, please pray for those who are hungry, displaced, sick or in poverty because of natural and human-made disasters, and for the workers who minister to them.

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